‘A’ Crowd Turns Out for Mirabella Bash
The Scene: First-year anniversary party Tuesday night for Mirabella magazine at the much-hyped Campanile restaurant. The publication that former Vogue Editor Grace Mirabella founded after she was ungracefully let go from Vogue (she claimed she learned of her termination via Liz Smith) celebrated its first 12 issues with cocktails and a buffet dinner attended by an A-list celeb crowd. Claiming no sour grapes toward Conde Nast, Miss Mirabella (or Grace, depending on your social ranking) said, “I haven’t had any feelings about them since the day I got the news. The way it was done was so poor that it made it easy for me to cut it off. So that’s that.”
The Buzz: The guests, peppered with movie industry types such as producers Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Douglas, conversed about--what else?--the summer’s blockbuster films to come.
Who Was There: Farrah Fawcett (former Mirabella cover girl and new ad campaign spokeswoman), Diane Keaton, a pregnant Janet Jones with husband Wayne Gretzky, Steven Bochco and Barbara Bosson, Julie and Rick Dees, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Hayman, Richard and Lili Zanuck, Sally Kellerman, Anne Archer, Sondra Locke, Cristina Ferrare and Tony Thomopoulos, Alana Stewart, Marisa Berenson, Berry Berenson and Anthony Perkins, Jackie Collins and Oscar Lerman, Keith Carradine, Julianne Phillips, Clifford Miller, Donna Mills, Suzanne de Passe and consulting editors Lilly Tartikoff, Diandra Douglas and Linda Balahoutis. Grace Mirabella knows how to hire her West Coast people: These women give her remarkable access to the industry’s movers and shakers.
Dress Mode: The pantsuit is making a triumphant return, as Farrah Fawcett, Suzanne de Passe and Mirabella herself turned up in trousers. Some women opted for short-short miniskirts; men grabbed their best retro ties for the occasion. Julianne Phillips toted her stuffed-to-bursting brown crocodile-pattern appointment book, and Keith Carradine wore an enormous silver and turquoise bolo tie.
Chow: The food was a definite draw, and included Tuscan crisp flattened chicken with parsley and garlic salad; fusilli with roasted tomatoes, ricotta salata and basil; rare grilled tuna Nicoise; grilled prime rib with black olive piree, white beans and sauteed bitter greens; plus cookies, cherry pies, fruit tarts and chocolate-praline cake.
Quoted: NBC Entertainment President Brandon Tartikoff had learned Fox Chairman Barry Diller had just decided to put “The Simpsons” on opposite “The Cosby Show” Thursday nights. “Is he here yet? Is he here yet?” Tartikoff asked. “I just want to ask him, ‘What did I ever do to you?’ ”
We May Be Having a Big Party With Lots of Food, but We’re Still Helping the Needy: Decorating the walls of the restaurant were T-shirts designed by Calvin Klein, Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass, Donna Karan and others, to be silent-auctioned. Proceeds from that, as well as $1,000 from every ad in the anniversary issue, will go to four charities: Literacy Volunteers, Environmental Defense Fund, Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Education and Research, and Design Industries Foundation for AIDS.
Goodie Bag Rating: A-. Favors for guests to take home included a Hanes Beefy-T white cotton extra-large T-shirt with the Mirabella logo in gold metallic, a copy of the June issue, a gift certificate for a custom-blended lipstick (value $18.50) from Visage Beaute--all wrapped up in a brown sack tied with a small bouquet of dried flowers.
